Matthew Reed Baker takes over the 33 1/3 blog this week with a deep-dive into his upcoming addition to the Genre series: 1970s Jazz Fusion. In his final blog post of the week, Matthew shares his list of 10 essential jazz fusion tracks and why he chose them.
by Matthew Reed Baker
For those unfamiliar with the Genre book series, every volume has a deceptively simple list at the end, where a newcomer to a genre can find the 10 essential tracks that best represent it.
To be honest, I immediately started sweating over this list when my proposal was accepted. I mean, how can I sum up such an eclectic genre as 1970s jazz fusion in just a few tunes?
I solved the problem of this list for a while with the old trick of avoiding it for as long as I could. So I wrote everything else first, and once I knew which albums and tunes had a symbolic presence in the book, I ended up having an easy time picking one or two to represent each chapter in order.
So without further ado, here are brief notes on how I chose each one:
10 Essential Tracks Of 1970s Jazz Fusion
“Pharoah’s Dance,” by Miles Davis (Bitches Brew, 1970)
Bitches Brew was not the first jazz fusion album, but I still consider it the genre’s pioneering magnum opus. I open the first chapter of my book with a detailed description of this leadoff track, which is also a perfect introduction to the deep rumble of rhythms and turbulent mystery that courses through Miles’s electric albums. If you’ve never heard it and it startles you, then imagine how it sounded like nothing else more than 50 years ago.
“Birdland,” by Weather Report (Heavy Weather, 1977)
Weather Report was one of the most popular jazz fusion bands of all time, both on the record charts and on arena stages, especially once they hit a hot spell of accessible melodies that they turned into radio hits. “Birdland” is their top tune, catchy and exciting, and it’s one of a handful of jazz fusion songs you’ve probably heard half your life.
“Chameleon,” by Herbie Hancock (Head Hunters, 1973)
Herbie Hancock is still a jazz fusion giant today, and Head Hunters remains one of the genre’s best sellers. This opening tune is an incredible statement of intent, with nonstop funk coursing through its 16 minutes and wild solos by Hancock on both the ARP Odyssey synthesizer and the Fender Rhodes electric piano. It’s a wonderful early example of how fusion takes jazz through the electric, into the electronic, and back again.
“Birds Of Fire,” by Mahavishnu Orchestra (Birds Of Fire, 1973)
After Weather Report, the Mahavishnu Orchestra was the biggest jazz fusion supergroup, one that dominated the hard rock side of the genre. The band’s debut, The Inner Mounting Flame, might be the better overall record, but Birds Of Fire’s title track has their most colossal riff. Yes, bandleader and guitarist John McLaughlin proved here that jazz fusion could indeed have riffs that tower as high as anything by Led Zeppelin.
“Spain,” by Chick Corea & Return To Forever (Light As A Feather, 1973)
This iconic 1970s composition, by yet another jazz fusion titan, has almost become a standard outside the genre. Indeed, Corea performed this signature tune his whole life, both with acoustic and electric bands, and it’s also been performed by many others, whether as a flamenco guitar piece or by soulful legends like Al Jarreau and Stevie Wonder. This original version is still the best, however, thanks to Flora Purim’s wordless soprano and Corea’s light-as-a-feather touch on the Fender Rhodes.
“Black Byrd,” by Donald Byrd (Black Byrd, 1973)
Many jazz veterans chased the charts by turning to fusion in the 1970s, often producing some of the genre’s most fun and enjoyable music. Byrd was a veteran Blue Note trumpeter, but here he joins forces with the Mizell Brothers, who had helped The Jackson 5 create their first big hits. The result is a slinky smash that sounds like a title theme for one funky American superhero.
“Harlem River Drive,” by Bobbi Humphrey (Blacks And Blues, 1973)
The Mizell Brothers also worked with a young flautist named Bobbi Humphrey on a series of albums that matched her dexterous improvisational skills with shimmering R&B grooves. Blacks And Blues is considered one of soul jazz’s greatest records, and this track is perhaps her most beloved, as it conveys that breezy feeling of cruising with the windows down, cool water on one side of you and hot city on the other.
“Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001),” by Deodato (Prelude, 1973)
The CTI record label was best-known for its gorgeous album covers and lush sound that mixed jazz with soul, and often Brazilian music. Speaking of Brazilians, Rio de Janeiro’s Eumir Deodato took the stentorian theme from famous Richard Strauss’s famous tone poem (best known from 2001: A Space Odyssey), funked it up, and turned it into this joyously bonkers epic that became one of CTI’s biggest hits.
“Across The Heartland,” by Pat Metheny Group (American Garage, 1979)
I also write about the European label ECM, which took a rarefied, international approach to jazz. ECM is also the label that first popularized many artists who are still some of jazz’s biggest stars, and few have been bigger over the past five decades than Pat Metheny. Here is one of his earliest popular themes, recorded with ECM’s trademark pristine sound and a bright melody that feels like a broad sun blazing over the prairie.
“Overture—Cotton Avenue,” by Joni Mitchell (Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, 1977)
My final chapter of the book takes in the rock and soul artists who approached jazz fusion through the lens of their own genres. Along with Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell was one of the first artists in my book that I ever loved. Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter may be one of her more obscure records, but it’s my absolute favorite. This opening track segues from an “overture” of ghostly guitars and ghostly wails into a simmering duet between Mitchell and bass superstar Jaco Pastorius. The lyrics are all about going nowhere special, but that’s okay because you’re dancing to the latest shiny music. Not a bad manifesto to complete this list of essentials!
Matthew Reed Baker
has been a writer and editor for almost three decades. He was the research and arts editor at Boston Magazine for 14 years, where he is still a contributing editor, and has written for The Boston Globe Magazine, ForbesLife, and National Journal. He lives with his wife, two children, and their cat in the Boston area and Midcoast Maine.
1970s Jazz Fusion is available to buy in bookshops and online, including at Bloomsbury.com.
